


Prints in the snow

by archer_and_lionprince



Series: Hobbit AU's [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Dis - Freeform, Fili worries, Fluff, Frerin - Freeform, M/M, Romance, Some hurt/comfort, baby Durin's, boys cuddling, durincest-not related, skinchanger!Kili, thorin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 08:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1851883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archer_and_lionprince/pseuds/archer_and_lionprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a chilly winter day and all Fíli wants is a hot bath and cuddling with Kíli under the blankets, but when he arrives home Kíli is nowhere in sight and the brunet should have been home long before him.</p><p>This is a collection of one-shots about the life of Fíli and skinchanger!Kíli</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

The sound of scrunching snow under heavy boots, mingled with hard breathing and creaking of branches, heavy from snow, are the only sounds carried by the wind through the lone winter landscape.

The wind picks up and snow starts to fall heavier from the grey sky. Fíli ducks his head, burying his chin and parts of his lower lip in the soft fur of his winter coat to avoid the cold bite of the wind. His cheeks and nose are red from the long hours of being out in the cold and his golden hair is covered with white little flakes.

Now that he’s finally out of the forest, the ground is almost knee-high covered with the shimmering white substance, making it harder for Fíli to move through the snow. And with the deer he is carrying he’s walking even slower. He was lucky enough to actually catch something in this freezing cold weather, the traps were empty for days and with their stocks running low Fíli feared that Kíli and he would go hungry for an unknown lapse of time. Though in reality, the only one feeling the gnawing hunger would be the blond dwarf.

Fíli glares at the snow, remembering the last hard winter. Food was sparse and the rations thin. The weather bad enough, that no one with a right mind would go out to search for food.

Fíli knows that he probably wouldn’t have survived the harsh winter if Kíli didn’t have given him his share of food, but it still upsets him. He is the older one; he has to take care of the younger as the elder and not the other way around, even if it saved his life.

A sudden hole in the ground lets him almost loose his footing, pulling him forcefully out of his dark thoughts. He stumbles, snow swirls in his face and he blinks rapidly to clear his vision. In the distant he can see the little cottage he and Kíli are living in and he takes a deep breath of the chilly air. The cold burns in Fíli’s lungs but he ignores it; he tightens his freezing fingers on the bound legs of the deer and trudges towards the cottage.

The closer he gets to his home, the heavier his burden seems to get. He aches for the warmth of the fire, for Kíli’s warm embrace and a long cuddle session under the blankets with his One.

The first thing he notices upon coming home is that no light is lit in the wooden house. His heart makes a fearful jump and he turns to look back at the way he came. The forest is barely visible through the thick flurry of snowflakes and Fíli has to squint his eyes to see the dark shadows of the high trees in the distance.

Kíli should have long been home by now. They parted ways after Kíli helped him host the deer over his shoulders; the brunet running home to light the fire in the fireplace and prepare a hot bath for them.

Fear clutches at Fíli’s heart and he falls down on his knees, snow quickly coating his brown trousers and he moves his arms to drop the dead deer in the snow. Some of his wet, golden strands are falling in his face and with a flick of his wrist he swipes them away. Swiftly Fíli is on his feet again and rushes with long strides to the door of the cottage, wanting to check if Kíli is really not home. He stops in front of the closed door and listens for a few seconds while drawing one of his hidden daggers out of his sleeve. Carefully Fíli opens the door, grip tight on his weapon and steps into the dimly lit house.

Silence is the only thing that greets him and he takes a quick glance around. Nothing seems to be amiss.

“KÍLI?” Fíli shouts into the silence and waits. The blond hopes that Kíli is just pulling a prank on him and will jump out of one of the rooms any second and shout loudly ‘Got you’, laughing all the while.

But his hope is fruitless as the house remains silent. With a curse he storms out of the house and back into the cold, his breath coming harsh and white in the chilly air.

Fíli sheaths his dagger and steps into the deep snow, following his almost with snow covered footprints until he’s a few steps ahead of the killed deer.

“KÍLI!”

A strong gust of icy wind and snow blows in his face and he is about to lift his arm to protect his eyes when he notices a flash of black against the white scenery. Shielding his eyes with a gloved hand he watches the dark spot sprinting over the white hill, the deep snow no hindrance for the strong legs.

Fíli sighs relieved when he more feels than sees that it’s his one running towards him, but the concern for Kíli’s well-being is still there. He waits with tense shoulders for his lover, watching Kíli shooting like an arrow through the snow and tries not to think of possible injuries that caused Kíli to be late.

“Kee!” Fíli breathes into the cold and reaches a hand out. Kíli jumps the last meter and Fíli brings his arms up, catching the younger; but with Kíli’s momentum of speed they both tumble into the snow.

Snow finds its way through Fíli’s wet locks and falls down his neck, but Fíli doesn’t care. He presses his face in the soft, if partially wet fur of Kíli’s throat and holds tight onto the dark wolf, murmuring Kíli’s name over and over.

A low whine and grumble vibrates through Kíli and he presses his snout in Fíli’s tangled hair, nosing through it until his nose meets the cold cheeks of the blond. Kíli hums when Fíli’s fingers card through his fur and start scratching at his ears and he sags a bit more on Fíli but careful not to accidentally crush him, enjoying his mates loving touches.

“Uff, you’re heavy you oaf.” Fíli huffs and wriggles under the wolf that’s covering him almost completely. He tugs at the fur on Kíli’s neck, signaling him to get up. “Get off me, Kee. My back is freezing!” Fíli grunts, his lips brushing over the lighter colored fur underneath Kíli’s throat.

Kíli lets out a low whine and if he would be in his dwarf form right now Fíli would see the brunet pouting at him.

Fíli gives him a shove and with a last lick over the blond’s bearded chin and cheek he stands up; only to flop on his rear and watch Fíli struggling to sit up. Kíli huffs amused and Fíli shoots him a glare before standing up.

Fíli brushes most of the snow on his front off, straining his arm then to reach the snow on his back, muttering to himself that he looks like a snowman. When he shakes out his hood, snow falls in his neck and he shivers at the unpleasant feeling of melting flakes running down his back.

A yip from Kíli and the sound of scrunching snow lets Fíli look up. He sees Kíli trotting towards the deer, his waggling tail brushing Fíli’s hip on his way and the blond dwarf smiles at Kíli’s happy stance. It’s been a while since they had deer after all.

Fíli watches how Kíli carefully bites in the deer’s bound hind legs and drags it towards the cottage. He will skin it later when his fingers aren’t numb and feel as if they might fall off soon. With the pelt Kíli could coat some new shoes if he chooses to, or they could sell it in the town.

While the young skinchanger drags the deer away, Fíli lets his eyes wander over the lean wolf, searching for any possible injuries. He can’t see any. The fur, colored in dark brown with lighter splotches on paws and chest is only covered with white snow, no traces of blood visible.

Fíli breathes relieved out and follows the wolf. Now that Kíli is with him he can breathe easier, if the cold wind wouldn’t hurt so much. Fíli marches to the door, opening it and waits for his One, twirling one of his mustache braids with numb fingers absently.

“Hurry up, Kíli!” he shouts over the swirl of white. The bark he receives makes him laugh. “The sooner you get here, the sooner we can take a hot bath and cuddle under the blankets.”

The noise of a closing gate alerts him of Kíli’s coming. Quickly he turns his gaze in the direction of their little stable and his blue eyes widen at the sight.

The brunet changed back into his dwarven body and is walking now stark naked through the icy wind with no care; his long hair unbraided and dancing in the wind.

“Kíli!” Fíli hisses aghast and grabs the younger dwarf, pulling him into the cottage and closing quickly the door, shutting the biting cold out of their home. “I hate it when you do that! What if you get sick?” the blond says angry and grabs Kíli’s coat from the coat rack, throwing it over the brunets’ shoulders and lights swiftly two of the oil lamps.

“I won’t and you know it.” Kíli grins but tightens the coat around himself. In the minutes after his change his skin is so hot that he doesn’t feel the cold like he would later as a dwarf. In that time after his change he likes to press his overheated body against the cool ground or planks of the floor, trying to soothe the burn on his skin. And the snow is a welcoming cold source.

“You could have waited until you’re in the house at least.” Fíli grunts and flops down onto the ground, unlacing his snow covered boots and freeing his half frozen feet. “Why weren’t you here anyway? I was worried that something had happened.” He asks and looks up, worry seeping in his eyes.

Frowning, the skinchanger looks down, biting on his lip before answering, “There was a strange smell… I followed it a mile until I stumbled upon some carcasses but the trail was old and I can’t say what mauled the animals this bad but I found traps in the snow. Leghold traps.” He looks in Fíli’s equally concerned looking eyes “We have to be careful until we removed the traps and know who’s responsible for this. And we should alert the people in town.” Kíli frowns, offering Fíli his hand and helps him standing up.

Fíli listens carefully to what Kíli tells him and a cold feeling settles in his stomach at the mentioning of the traps. If Kíli had walked in one of the iron traps… he quickly banishes the image out of his head.

“If there are hunters or orcs out there, then I don’t want you running off alone! Not until we know more, you hear Kíli?” he tightens his grip on Kíli’s hand and cups his One’s face with the other, feeling the rough stubble against his palm.

“Alright.” Kíli agrees and nuzzles into the calloused hand before pressing a soft kiss on the cold skin. “You’re freezing!” he says suddenly, his brown eyes widening with concern.

“Yeah, and I would very much love to take a bath now, preferable with you.”

“Alright, I’ll get the fire started in the living room and heat the boiler. You go and get out of the wet clothes in the meantime.” The brunet gives Fíli a small smile and pushes him towards the stairs.

Fíli hums, though with his teeth clattering it probably comes out just as a weird noise but Kíli chuckles and presses a quick kiss to his cheek before walking into the living room with only his coat covering his nakedness.

With shaking fingers on the railing, Fíli climbs the stairs and walks into their room. He unbuckles his belt and throws it on their with two blankets covered bed. After he placed every one of his numerous knifes and short swords on the small table in the corner of the room and his double swords near the bed and in reach should the need arise, he moves to unlace his tight leather vest.

While getting out of the rest of his clammy clothes Fíli listens to his wolf’s humming and rummaging that echoes through the room. He hisses when his bare feet hit the cold floor and goose bumps appear all over his body when he lifts his last piece of clothes over his head and drops it to the ground. Quickly and with a violent quiver in his limbs he grabs for his warm nightshirt together with his pair of trousers and pulls them on with fast speed.

Fíli throws one of the warm blankets over his broad shoulders, grabs the dark pants from Kíli on his way out and shuffles down the stairs. A look outside tells him that the snowfall subsided a bit and he grimaces at the thought of having to go out there later again to skin the deer, but maybe he can persuade Kíli to do it for him.

Scratching on his cheek Fíli walks into the living room, finding Kíli sitting in front of the fire on the soft carpet.

Kíli looks up, having heard his One walking down the stairs and smiles to his golden lover.

“The water will be warm soon.” He smiles and runs one hand over his quickly done single braid. “Come.” He says warmly and extends one hand, the coat falling open and orange light dances over Kíli’s exposed chest; he grins when he sees Fíli’s eyes following trail of dark hair down to his navel and further.

Fíli blushes but returns the smile and takes Kíli’s hand, intertwining their fingers when he sits down.

“I brought your trousers.” Fíli says and places the piece of clothes in front of Kíli, waiting for the skinchanger to put them on and nudges the brunets’ naked thigh when he doesn’t make any attempts to grab the piece of cloth.

The brunet dwarf only grins and tugs at the blanket Fíli is wearing and snuggles under the blanket and against his One after Fíli opened his arms with a sigh to let Kíli in.

“What is the reason of putting them on, only to get rid of them in a few minutes anyway?” he mumbles smugly and leans his head against the blond’s shoulder, nuzzling at Fíli’s collar and inhaling the musky scent of his One. He notices that Fíli’s skin isn’t much warmer than the last time he touched him and with a concerned whine he re-arranges his position, climbing on his lovers lap and wraps his arms around the shivering blond dwarf.

“Thanks, Kee.” Fíli whispers, slinging his arms around the dark haired dwarfs waist and cherishes the warmth Kíli seems to steadily radiate off.

“No need to thank me, Fee. You know I have enough warmth for both of us.” Kíli coos and kisses the tip of Fíli’s red ear.

Fíli buries his nose in the skinchanger’s neck, his lips brushing over the sensitive skin. He nibbles at the skin just under Kíli’s ear when he moves his freezing fingers under the leather coat Kìli is wearing and presses his sore limbs on the hot flesh.

Kíli jerks at the sudden attack of the cold fingers on his back but doesn’t make a sound; instead he continues to part the wet golden hair to braid it in one thick braid. He starts humming a meaningless melody, thinking over the traps he found in the woods. They will have to talk to Thorin or Frérin after they get rid of all the dangerous traps. They need to find out who’s responsible for this, they could be after something else than animals after all.

After a while Kíli notes that Fíli stopped sucking on his neck, his head laying still on his shoulder and a steady breath blowing against his throat. The arms that were wrapped around him are hanging loosely around his waist, fingertips touching his butt.

He smiles to the sounds of Fíli snoring softly in his ear and he decides to let him rest in his arms a bit longer; the water will still be warm when Fíli wakes for their bath.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please think of Fíli being equivalent to an eight-year-old and Kíli to a five-year-old ^^

* * *

Fifteen-year-old Fíli looks wide eyed at the big house, holding tightly on his mother’s hand. There’s a small path leading to the stony home, surrounded by fresh grass and colorful, wild flowers and the dwarfling takes everything in with big eyes.

“What a beautiful house... Look, Fíli, there are toys scattered in the grass, maybe you’re finding your first new friend today. I remember the baker’s wife mentioning that there’s a small child.”Dís smiles down at her son, looking into the startling blue eyes he inherited from his dead father.

Fíli nods hesitantly, a look of concern and uncertainty on his face. His mother and uncle explained to him the day before that there’s something special about the family that lives near the woods. And despite the reassurances of his family that there’s no need to worry, that the Durin dwarves they already met were really nice, the dwarfling can’t help but worry a bit.

What if the other dwarfling is _too_ special, too different from him and they can’t be friends? Fíli would like it to have someone to play with, preferably someone closer to his age than his last friend. His last friend was almost twice his age and not always fun to play with.

“I know that face, Fíli. You don’t have to worry about anything, everything will be fine and in no time you’ll have your first friend in the new town.” Frérin reassures his nephew after seeing the frown on the child’s face, laying one of his hands on the dwarfling’s head and ruffles through the blond hair.

“Uncle Frérin, nooo.” Fíli swats his uncle’s hand frantically away. Quickly he runs his small hands over the two braids Dís put in his hair, checking if they’re okay and sighing in relief. They are still neat.

Fíli shoots a small glare at his fair haired uncle but ducks his head when he catches his mother looking at him. But Dís only chuckles and tugs her son and brother along with one on each of her side, not wanting to allow Fíli and Frérin to start one of their playful wars again.

“Boys, behave. There’s no time for your adorable bickering right now.”

“Dís, men don’t do ‘adorable bickering’… though Fíli’s cute face and huge blue eyes _are_ putting a damper on it.” Frérin says with a grin and winks at his nephew.

“Frérin…” Dís shoots the blond dwarf a last warning glance before they are standing in front of the wooden door. She smoothes her blue and brown dress for a last time, slaps her chuckling brother on the arm, squeezes the hand of Fíli and knocks at the door.

The sound of yelling followed by heavy footsteps can be heard through the wood before the door opens.

Fíli gasps and inches closer to his mother, staring wide eyed at the huge dark haired dwarf who opened the door.

“Miss Dís! We didn’t expect you to come by for at least another few days.” The dwarf looks surprised at the small family and opens the door further.

“Oh, I hope we’re not coming at a bad time then. We can come back later if you-”

“No. That won’t be necessary Miss Dís. I was just surprised.” He assures Dís before his piercing blue eyes are looking at Frérin and finally settle on the smallest of the fair haired visitors.

Fíli looks startled when the tall dwarf looks at him but doesn’t avert his eyes, only tightens his grip on Dís’ hand.

“Thorin, may I introduce my son Fíli, and my younger brother Frérin.” Dís introduces her family to the dark haired dwarf, Frérin bowing at the mentioning of his name and mumbling a small “at your service”.

“Thorin Durin, at your service.” Thorin answers shortly, though smiling at the family. “Please come in.” He invites the three into the fairly big house.

Fíli walks beside his mother, looking around and taking everything in with curiosity.

When they walk past the wardrobe Fíli sees an awful lot of cloaks and shoes, but what catches his interest are the little boots standing beside the big ones. They are tiny compared to the rest of them and even a bit smaller than his.

“They belong to my son, Kíli. Maybe you and him could play in the garden while the adults talk? Would you like that, Fíli?” Thorin startles Fíli with his deep voice, the dwarfling snapping his head around and away from the boots, looking into the dark blue eyes of Thorin.

Fíli blinks and looks at his mother for reassurance before nodding shyly at Thorin.

“Great. There are not many dwarflings in the village and Kíli is the youngest by at least twenty years.” Thorin says with a grin, “Most of the time he plays alone or with one of us but you’re not that much older than him. You’re fifteen, right? Kíli’s ten.”

Fíli nods when Thorin tells him Kíli’s age, a thrill of anticipation running through him at the possibility of finally having a friend close to his age. That the other child is younger than him only increases his anticipation, for once Fíli’s the older one and _he_ can decide what they are going to play.

Frérin hums and lays once again a hand on Fíli’s head “Fíli here knows that problem, though I’m not sure if your son can handle this little rascal.” Frérin can’t help but tease Fíli.

Fíli flushes bright red, his eyes narrowing at his uncle who just laughs quietly while his sister hisses at him. Silently Fíli swears that he will get his revenge once they are home and his uncle is not suspecting anything.

Thorin only lets out a deep laugh, a knowing look appearing in his eyes, “Then we need to be watchful because Kíli is a very mischievous child. Let’s just hope that we’re not unleashing two little terrors on the poor world.”

Thorin leads them into a wide living room that’s linked with the kitchen through a wooden arch. The wood is adorned with beautiful carvings of wolves in different sizes and shades of brown. A big fireplace, surrounded by huge bookshelves, with blackened rods in front of it to keep children away from the fire, heats the cozy place and the dwarves living in the house. The walls are adorned with a few weapons, there are axes and swords and even two bows.

In the middle of the room are two sofas with a magnificent armchair pointing towards the fire and Fíli tilts his head when he sees a small lump lying in front of the fire.

Curious Fíli notes that the- with a blue blanket covered- lump shifts slightly and he lets go of his mothers’ hand. He looks up at Dís but sees that she and his uncle are listening to something the other dwarf tells them.

Slowly and careful not to make any noises he creeps closer to the blue blanket. At the last steps he sinks down to his knees and crawls to the lump. Now being closer it doesn’t look that small anymore.

Tiny whimpering sounds reach Fíli’s ears and with a concerned frown he reaches for the blanket and slowly pulls it away. He’s so engrossed in his doing that he doesn’t notice the sudden silence in the room.

Fíli gasps when soft looking fur comes to light. A revealed ear twitches at the surprised noise Fíli makes and sluggishly the body under the blanket stretches itself and a head appears.

Big, brown eyes are blinking sleepy at the surprised blond.

Fíli stares owlishly at the pup with the brown fur and the bright speckles. At first he does nothing, waiting for the puppy to do something and to see if it’s afraid of him but the brown whelp does nothing but stare back.

“Hey, little one… I’m Fíli.” The blond dwarfling whispers.

Carefully he lifts his hand, wanting to pet the small animal but before he touches the pup he waits a moment, looking for signs of distress.

When he sees none he closes the distance and he lets out a surprised sound at the feeling of the soft fur under his fingers. Even the fur of the cat he brought milk to sometimes hadn’t had such soft fur.

He can’t help but grin when the pup leans into his touches and tilts its head, silently asking to get scratched behind the ears.

Fíli giggles at the feeling of a wet tongue licking over his hand and moves his hand over the brown fur and down the pup’s back. As if on cue the brown furball stands up and wobbles into Fíli’s lap, dragging his blue blanket along.

Fíli grins widely and pulls the pup closer to his chest, the pup licking excited at his chin. The dwarfling giggles again and strokes through the brown fur, seeing the tail wiggle under the blanket.

“Apparently you just made a new friend.” The deep voice of Thorin interrupts Fíli’s cuddling with the pup.

Shyly Fíli looks up, hands not stopping to pet “What’s his name, Mister Thorin?”

“That-“ the older dwarf takes a seat beside the wide-eyed dwarfling “- is Kíli.”

Fíli stares first dumbfound at Thorin and then at the pup in his lap. ‘Kíli’ yips at the mentioning of his name and cuddles closer to Thorin, his tail slapping against Fíli’s arm.

Confusion is plain visible on Fíli’s face and Thorin takes pity on him and takes the whelp along with the blanket in his arms.

Fíli watches puzzled how Thorin holds the pup close and seems to whisper something into the twitching ears. He takes a short look at his mother and uncle who are watching everything from a few paces away but his attention quickly drifts back to the whining pup.

Thorin murmurs something and then his arm covers the pup for a few seconds and Fíli has to crane his neck to see anything.

When Thorin uncovers the pup again, Fíli hears his mother gasp. He watches how unruly, brown hair and mischievously shimmering brown eyes, followed by a small nose surface over Thorin’s thick arm.

Agape he watches how a _dwarfling_ crawls out of Thorin’s arms but before he can make his way towards Fíli, Thorin snatches the squirming and naked child.

“Kíli, you need to put your clothes on before you can play.”

Kíli makes a small distressed sound, clearly not wanting to be put in clothes and reaches for the blond dwarfling.

“Fee? Fíli?”

“Uh, yes… Kíli?” he asks unsure, still not fully understanding what just happened but smiling at the adorable dwarfling in front of him.

“Wanna play tag, Fee?” Kíli asks from under his bangs, reaching again for the blond, his gaze wandering to the blond braid in Fíli’s hair.

Fíli blinks and nods at the question, although he’s not a big fan of playing tag. He sees Kíli’s interest in his golden hair and shifts closer to Thorin and Kíli, leaning his head close enough for Kíli to touch. He did pet Kíli’s fur just a few seconds ago, so why not allow him to touch his golden hair?

He feels the tight grip on his braid but after Thorin reminds his son that he hurts Fíli, Kíli loosens his grip.

Fíli watches the astonishment on the younger’s face as he looks at the blond hair, touching it with awe.

“Like in the pictures… like a-a leon.” Kíli says in awe.

“Lion, Kíli” Thorin chuckles and Fíli grins at Kíli’s sheepish look.

“We can play that you are a lion and I’m the wolf who will catch you.” Kíli exclaims excited and makes another attempt to get out of his father’s grasp.

Fíli nods with a wide smile, pleased to be compared to such a majestic animal and stands up, ready to play with the brunet.

“You two can play all you want as long as you get dressed young man.” Thorin looks sternly down at his son “So, where did you hide your clothes this time?”


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

A loud snarl cuts through the peaceful scenery of playing children, the happy laughter quickly turning into fearful screams and jolting Kíli out of his daydreams.

The young skinchangers’ eyes fly open, his pupils dilating and his iris stretching, pushing the white of his eye back and replacing it with a chestnut brown color.

He shoots up from the ground where he was sitting and swirls around just when the first child starts to scream for him. His long ebony hair, adorned with white flowers is flying over his shoulder and into his face, some of the carefully picked flowers falling silently to the ground.

He pushes the two little girls that were braiding the flowers in his hair behind him and crouches protectively before them, baring his sharpening teeth to the unknown threat. A breeze carries the smell of fear to him and his nostrils flare at the sharp scent.

Kíli sees children scurrying around, the older, human children reaching for the younger ones and pulling them behind a fallen tree trunk to hide while others are running back into the village.

Some of the smallest children are screaming fearful Fíli’s name and without a second thought he is running in the direction he last saw the blond dwarf before he got dragged away by two dwarven children.

Kíli sees a flash of bright hair and a glimpse of the brown tunic Fíli is wearing before the golden haired dwarf vanishes almost completely under a familiar, slender grey wolf.

_Lési_ , Kíli thinks with a deep growl.

She is the daughter of Bérin, Alpha of the pack that lives in the Hills of Evendim; and unfortunately she is also Kíli’s cousin.

Kíli was never fond of her. She is clingy and arrogant and always looks down on others and ridicules them, but to Fíli she always is especially mean when she comes into their village for a visit with her father. And Kíli hates her for that. Because Fíli is wonderful and kind-hearted and beautiful and Kíli would do anything just to see the golden haired dwarf smile.

Since he came back from his six-month trip that every maturing skinchanger has to go on, to learn about the world and maybe search for a potential mate, he feels drawn to Fíli, well more than before. He knew that he was going to miss the blond dwarf, they’ve never been apart long since the day they had met, but he didn’t expect to miss Fíli so much that his first thoughts in the morning and his last in the evening strayed to his fierce lion.

He noticed that he missed Fíli’s laughter, the rasp in Fíli’s voice when he wakes up bleary eyed with his hair falling over his shoulders like a golden waterfall and wishes him a ‘Good morning’ and he especially missed to cuddle (be it dwarf or wolf) with the older dwarf.

There was really nothing he didn’t miss about Fíli and it made the time apart from home harder for him.

Sometimes he felt irritated that he missed the older dwarf more than he missed his father or the rest of his pack, but when he stumbled over a peculiar old man who claimed to be a wizard in the outskirts of Bree (who also insisted on accompanying him for a while- in the end Kíli was stuck with the wizard for almost two month and he _never_ encountered this much trouble before in his life and silently vowed to never travel with a wizard again) and asked him if he already found his One (or his mate like his kind calls them) and Kíli’s thoughts immediately went towards Fíli and he realized how stupid he had been.

Fíli, his bright Fíli, is his mate.

When he returned a few weeks ago and all but threw himself at the laughing blond, inhaling his mates’ lovely scent he was ready to tell Fíli of his feelings for him, but with the interruption of his family barreling into them to welcome him back he lost all of his nerves.

And then he never really got the chance (or worked up the nerve) to tell Fíli and with Lési being there he knew that he wouldn’t get any chance in the near future to talk to the blond alone with her following him everywhere.

Kíli doesn’t know how often he told her off, to leave them alone and stop insulting his friend, but now, with attacking Fíli physically she crossed the line once and for all and now he will show her what will happen when someone hurts his family.

His rage mingles with fear when he sees Lési’s aggressive moves. He knows what damage their claws and fangs can cause, having seen it often enough on hunting trips when they tear into their prey. And it doesn’t matter that Lési is scrawnier than most of his kind, she is still stronger than a teenage-dwarf and her teeth are deadly if given the right opportunity.

Kíli’s heart thunders in his chest, heat licking through his entire body and a red haze clouds his vision, and then, in the blink of an eye his body transforms, the dark fur that’s a common trait in the Durin line covering his stretching and changing body.

He runs past the last children, seeing how Lési snaps for Fíli’s face and how the blond struggles to keep her away from him, blood already coating his linen shirt from deep scratches on his chest and arms.

With an angry snarl Kíli jumps at the grey wolf, tearing her forcefully away from his mate and rolling them around to pin Lési beneath him. He barely avoids a bite to his throat but with her body suddenly twisting she manages to get a hold of him and closes her powerful jaw around his shoulder, white, knife-like teeth piercing his skin and painting them in a deep red.

Kíli growls, partly in annoyance and partly in pain while the heavy smell of his blood fills the air. Over his thundering heartbeat and the she-wolfs snarling he can hear Fíli screaming his name.

His paws scrape over the ground when he pushes forward, his left leg and back throbbing with pain but he keeps moving until he can roll them around and manages to break free of Lési’s painful hold, finally being able to pin her beneath him.

Quickly the dark furred skinchanger takes advantage of Lési’s exposed throat, his teeth closing threateningly around her neck and presses his fangs warningly into her skin without drawing blood yet.

At first the she-wolf tries to break out of his grip but when he growls again and increases the pressure on her throat, blood now seeping in thick droplets into her grey fur, she sags down and exposes with a whine her belly, submitting herself to the young alpha wolf.

Satisfied with her submission he loosens his hold until his canines no longer penetrate her skin but he keeps his jaws firmly locked around her, not giving her any chance to flee. He wants to see justice done to her for attacking someone without reason, and a minor no less, and waits for one of his pack to arrive as the commotion surely reached the others in the village by now.

“Kíli!” Fíli calls concerned, taking a hesitant step towards the wolves, not sure if it’s a good idea to go near Lési, because what if she decides to finish what she started and hurts Kíli more in the process of getting to him?

Fíli watches silently with a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach how the crimson blood, barely visible in the dark fur but glistering sinister in the light brown blotches on Kíli’s front, drops down onto a ripped flower crown and stains the once beautiful flowers in a deep red.

 

* * *

 

“That was the last one, laddie.” Oin mutters and puts a good amount of the healing salve on the neatly stitched wound before wrapping the arm in a few layers of white bandages.

Fíli nods gratefully but hisses at the burning sensation of the salve, his grip on Frérin’s hand momentarily tightening and making his uncle wince in pain.

“I’ll give you some herbal tea that you should drink in the morning and evening for the pain and a salve that needs to be put on the wounds three times a day.” The healer says while bustling around the small room to retrieve the herbs and giving them to the older blond, “Frérin, I trust you to see that the wound is cleaned every day and to keep a close eye on it for possible infection.”

“Of course, Oin. And thank you for your help.” Frérin bows his head in thanks and takes the ointment and the small leather pouch filled with herbs from Oin, his sapphire blue eyes traveling to his edgy nephew.

“Can I see Kíli now?” the young dwarf asks anxiously and looks at the closed door, his mind traveling constantly to his injured One. (Not that Kíli knows about his feelings but after today he does not want to keep them a secret for much longer)

He feels unsettled not to be at Kíli’s side, especially when he’s sick or injured.

He saw the wound on Kíli’s shoulder when he changed back, and he remembers the rivers of blood flowing down the brunet’s arm and back, drenching Fíli’s quickly offered tunic with the red liquid and leaving him sick with worry.

Fíli remembers the relief when he saw his uncle running towards him, smudges of soot on his face and arms from being called from the forge by the children, his broad sword glinting dangerously in the sun.

He recalls the need to shout at Frérin to hurry, that Kíli needed help, but the sudden sound of loud, angry growling of wolves kept him from making any noises.

Wide-eyed he turned around, his stormy blue eyes fixing on three quickly approaching figures behind Kíli and Lési.

Three huge wolves ran towards their youngest family member with high speed, coming out of the forest which is not far from the village and perfect for hunting game.

Fíli recognized them immediately. It was Kíli’s father and Alpha-wolf Thorin, followed by his uncle Dwalin and Nori.

Thorin, a magnificent black wolf with intelligent, blue glowing eyes was the first to reach his son; and just when the alpha bared his sharp teeth and snarled at the pair on the ground his uncle Frérin was there and engulfed him in a tight hug, blocking his view from the group of skinchangers and everything that was about to happen.

Fíli felt torn between wanting to stay in Frérin’s arms until everything was over and racing to Kíli to make sure that he’s alright.

But in the end it did not matter.

The second Frérin loosened his grip on Fíli and the younger blond saw that Kíli changed back into a dwarf and saw the blood he ran to the brunet and shed out of his outer tunic, pressing the cloth quickly on the heavily bleeding wound to staunch the blood flow and not caring for Kíli’s nudeness.

Frantically he mumbled apologies, blaming himself for the injuries Kíli sustained and ignored the brunet’s concerned questions and the other wolves around him who held Lési back.

He should have ignored Lési and her taunting but something in him snapped when she started to talk about her marriage to _his_ Kíli, _his One_.

It was a ridiculous thought. Kíli would _never_ marry her. And when he plainly told her that, how could he have known that she would try and rip his throat out.

And then Kíli, the reckless idiot, jumped in to save him and got hurt.

*

Fíli ignored Kíli’s frantically attempts to look at his wounds, batting his hands away when they hindered him at pressing the cloth firmly onto the shoulder, shushing the brunet gently and telling Kíli that his injury was way more serious than Fíli’s scratches.

The blond remembers the twitch on Kíli’s lips when he finally got a good look at the scratches on his arms and chest, his blood slowly trickling into his white shirt. With concerned eyes Kíli reached for Fíli again, his eyes gleaming in the light chestnut brown that he only ever obtained when he was in his wolf form, and a whine escaped his lips when Fíli pushed his good arm away again.

Fíli’s heart broke a little when Kíli kept making those pitiful, whimpering sounds and he could no longer ignore the skinchangers’ concerns for him.

Fíli changed the angle of his hand on the bleeding wound and tilted his head a bit to look into Kíli’s with distress widened eyes, and gently cupped the younger’s cheek in his hand, smudging blood on the still burning skin.

“It’s all right, Kee… I’m all right. You saved me.” He whispered, pressing their brows together while looking deeply into his One’s eyes. “I’m all right.”

Kíli calmed visibly down after this, even accepted a pair of trousers from Frérin but refused to let go of the blond dwarfs’ hand after putting them on.

But as soon as they arrived at the infirmary, escorted by his uncle Frérin and a ginger colored wolf- Kíli rolled his eyes at that but refrained from saying anything when Nori growled at him and Fíli secretly wondering like so often what they are telling each other- Oin put them into different rooms and Kíli’s worry spiked again.

The brunet had to be dragged away by Nori and another healer while Frérin pushed the younger blond into one of the empty rooms, shouting and pleading to stay with the blond dwarf.

It was visible on Frérin’s face how reluctant he was to follow Oin’s orders to separate them, the young dwarves having never been forced apart when either of them was sick or hurt; they always stayed with the other until it was clear that the wound was treated well or the worst of the sickness was over. Since they met as dwarflings they were always seen together and never without each other, there was no Fíli without his moon and no Kíli without his sun.

In the end Fíli received an apologetic look from his uncle and was guided into one of the empty rooms, his own pleading brushed off with the explanation that it’s for the best for now.

*

“Please, let me see him?” Fíli looks with pleading eyes first at the old healer and then at his golden-haired uncle who only nods with a knowing grin on his lips.

“You may see him now. I’m quite certain that he is already waiting for you outside, impatient as the lad is.” Oin nods and shakes his head with a smile when the young dwarf is by the door in a flash. “And be careful with your stitches!” The healer shouts after him but Fíli barely registers it.

“Kíl- oof!”

The brunet throws himself at Fíli when he’s barely out of the door, wrapping his good arm around the blond and burying his nose in the crook of Fíli’s neck, inhaling Fíli’s scent like a drowning man desperate for air.

“Kíli!” Fíli staggers back but catches quickly his footing before he can bump against the doorframe, his arms closing around the shaking skinchanger and pulling him close against his aching chest.

Whispering Kíli’s name Fíli holds the brunet close and moves one hand to card softly through the dark tresses. He listens to Kíli’s hitching breaths, soothes with gentle hands and words the brunet’s recurred worry and hopes that Kíli can’t hear the loud hammering of his heart.

He hears Frérin laughing quietly in the background but it’s quickly silenced by a slap followed by the older blond’s yelp. Fíli grins to himself and listens how Oin drags Frérin out of the room and down the hall.

The freshly stitched wounds on his arms and chest begin to hurt after seconds of holding the other close and Fíli images that it can’t feel better for Kíli whose injured shoulder is pressed tightly against the blond.

Unwilling but out of concern for the younger Fíli loosens his hold on the brunet and pulls back, earning promptly an unhappy whine from Kíli.

“Kíli, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re not!” Kíli digs his fingers into the dark tunic Fíli is wearing, looking at the blond with wide eyes. “Please, Fee. You’re not hurting me.”

Skeptically Fíli looks at the slightly taller dwarf, his eyes gazing over the bandages that are peeking out from under his blue v-neck shirt and the sling that supports Kíli’s left arm.

“Fíli, I promise. The healer lass gave me some poppy milk and now I only feel a faint tingling in my shoulder.” The brunet explains while his hand tugs absently on Fíli’s tunic and bites on his lip when the blond doesn’t pull him closer again.

Closing his eyes in defeat Kíli lowers his head to rest it on Fíli’s shoulder, hiding the different emotions that are running over his face.

“Kíli?” Sensing the sudden change of mood Fíli looks worried at his younger friend.

“I- I was so scared… when I smelled your blood and saw Lési above you… I thought I was about to lose you.” Kíli says quietly, his voice laced with fear and pain. “I thought I would lose my Mate before I got the chance to tell you how much you mean to me.”

Fíli’s world stutters to a halt, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes widen in surprise at Kíli’s words and his heart begins to flutter in joy.

Kíli, his One, just told him that he is _his_ One as well. Since he found out a year ago that the brunet skinchanger, his best friend since they were dwarflings, is his One he had the fear that Kíli would not feel the same for him.

He asked Ori - just out of curiosity of course, that had nothing to do with his recent discovery of his changed feelings for the brunet- if skinchangers’ does have a One too and if they recognize each other on first sight like men, dwarves and elves do.

The answer _“Not quite,”_ was not what he had expected. _“We call them Mates and we are drawn to them by their unique scent, but you could say that we know it on the first smell… well most of the time anyway,”_ the redhead explained with a mischievous grin and enthusiastically told him a few stories about how some pairs found each other on their journey through Middle Earth.

Later Fíli told his mother about his feeling for Kíli (he doesn’t trust his uncle with such an important secret, Frérin would probably have tried to play matchmaker or would have told Thorin about his feelings for his son and he truly did not want to know the outcome of that) troubled that he might not be Kíli’s Mate.

His mother told him then calmly that he did not need to worry about his fear that Kíli would not feel the same. _“One’s always find each other my gem, be they dwarf or a magical creature. But sometimes such things need time and you two are still young, not even of age yet,”_ she said while she was combing his hair. _“But do not fret, everyone can see that you two are made for each other.”_

 

“Kíli…” Fíli whispers, dropping one hand on the soft curve of the brunet’s waist while his other hand grabs softly Kíli’s stubbled chin, turning his head to look into his eyes. “Is this true? Am I truly your Mate?”

Shocked at his own words Kíli blushes. He did not intend to blurt _that_ out. He wanted to confess his love for the blond dwarf when - well, when it would feel right, like when they cuddle in front of the fire or share some sweet rolls or when he braids Fíli’s hair. But blurting it out while standing in the hall of the infirmary was definitively not how he imaged it would be.

Carefully Kíli lifts his rich brown eyes, the red on his cheeks spreading to his ears when he catches Fíli’s intense gaze.

“Yes, you’re my Mate, Fíli.” Kíli repeats with more confidence in his voice, his eyes shifting between looking into the blonds’ compelling, crystal clear blue eyes and his temptingly curved lips.

Heat flutters through Fíli’s stomach at the younger’s’ words, a happy laugh escaping his lips and impulsively he closes the short gap between them, pressing their lips together.

Kíli, surprised at the sudden feeling of warm lips on his and Fíli’s mustache braids slapping against his chin, flinches back before realizing what’s happening and crashing their lips back together.

Fisting his free hand in Fíli’s golden hair Kíli deepens their kiss, leaving them both breathless when they part for air.

“I wanted to do this for weeks.” Kíli confesses with a dazed smile, placing a kiss on Fíli’s lips that lets the butterflies fly in his stomach and shoots tingles down his spine.

“Me, too.” The fair-haired dwarf admits and pulls Kíli flush against his body, allowing the skinchanger to nuzzle into his neck.

“I love you, my little wolf.” Fíli mumbles, saying the words that burned on his tongue for month for the first time out loud.

“I love you too, my golden Fee.”

 

* * *

 

“Will you tell me what happened?” Kíli asks on their way to the skinchangers’ home, brown eyes looking questioningly at the blond walking proudly beside him, their fingers intertwined. “Why did she attack you?”

“I told her that you would never marry her.” Fíli answers after a short pause of comfortable silence and then laughs at Kíli’s indignant huff of “Never”.

“The only dwarf I’m going to marry is you, âzyungâl.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated ^^


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